Would this be disrespectful?

I just found out that a very talented musician who lived in my area passed away. His band were, in my opinion, one of the best to come out of the area for a long while, and even though I didnt know him that well (we spoke a few times, when we had gigs together), it really upset me to hear of his passing.

My first thought, to show my respect, would be to write a song for him, because of his passion for music, but then I thought, how would his close friends react to that? I've never been in this position before, so I wondered if anyone would feel offended if an almost complete stranger wrote a song for someone close to you?

Although I want to pay my respect in a fitting way, I would never want to disrespect his memory or upset his friends and family, who are most likely still in shock and grieving their loss. The thing is, his music really opened my eyes to a new genre, and I remember buying 5 copies of their debut EP, because I wanted one for every stereo system I had in my house/my car/at college.

So Pit, would it be disrespectful of me to pay tribute to an incredible guitarist/singer through a song, when I barely knew him?

I was going to say at your next gig dedicate a song to him if there's a fair few attending who knew who he was, but it's really probably best not worth it. It's not disrespectful, just not entirely called for.

I was going to say at your next gig dedicate a song to him if there's a fair few attending who knew who he was, but it's really probably best not worth it. It's not disrespectful, just not entirely called for.

Thats the kind of thing I meant, like its not exactly my place to make tributes, but his music has had a massive impact on me, and directly influenced what I listen to to this day.

I think it'd be a fitting thing for someone to do at least, or a gig in his honour, but I don't think I'm the right person to do it, because I didnt know him very well at all, but despite sounding silly, my hearts telling me its the right thing to do.

He was an excellent guitarist and vocalist, so I dont think thats necessary.

I think what I'll do, is write a song, but not make it public, or even remotely obvious that its about him. Like someone mentioned earlier, people write tributes to their idols etc, without making it obvious, or throwing it in the faces of those who knew them, so I don't think thats wrong.

The first thought that came to mind when I read the first few sentences was that you'd want to fill in as a guitarist/vocalist for the band, who just lost a member...

OT: No, I don't think it'd be disrespectful to write a song as a tribute.

I think they posted on Facebook that they wouldn't be carrying on, because they lost not only an excellent songwriter and musician, but a great friend, which is another saddening blow, because their music was literally the only thing that kept me going to local gigs.

If anyones interested, I've started my song, but I'm going to keep it to myself, until I release my acoustic EP, which will possibly be in a few months time, and I'm not going to make it a huge deal (because I barely knew him), but it'll be my personal tribute, rather than expecting people to think I'm a saint or something, for writing a tribute, and forcing it at people what a good person I am, because I think that definately would be disrespectful.

Thanks for all the serious answers, its been great to write everything down too, and has made me feel a bit more at ease about things

When my friend died, and everyone was putting pink on their bikes and writting R.I.P on their trailers, it made us feel good. Even if they didn't know her all that much. If felt good knowing she impacted peoples lives enough that they were willing to do stuff in memory of her.So good for you for wanting to do a song in memory of him.

What makes you say that? I'm not arguing, just curious, as everyone else seems to think its a good idea, especially if I managed to do it tastefully.

I suppose I'm worried about that could happen, you know? What if your song is ten times better then the song that his band will inevitably write? what if your song sucks or the people who knew him think He'd hate the song?

I know it's unreasonable to get upset about those points, but people will.

Leave it to his mates. Dedicate a song to him in your next gig.

Maybe I'm wrong, but i don't think i am.

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I suppose I'm worried about that could happen, you know? What if your song is ten times better then the song that his band will inevitably write? what if your song sucks or the people who knew him think He'd hate the song?

I know it's unreasonable to get upset about those points, but people will.

Leave it to his mates. Dedicate a song to him in your next gig.

Maybe I'm wrong, but i don't think i am.

I completely respect your views mate, and well, if I know at least, that I'm making my own personal tribute, noone else has to. I'm pretty set on writing a song, but like someone said, people pay tribute to others in songs all the time, and I'm definately going to wait a while to even play it live, let alone record it, so people might not even associate the two.

I agree that a really obvious tribute song wouldnt be right for me to do, so I'd be writing it, almost for myself, and for me to acknowledge what a difference he made.

If you could speak to him right now and explain to him what you did to us, would he think that the idea of you writing a song about him is disrespectful?

If he was half the musician you made him out to be, then its doubtful.

He was a really humble guy, from what I know of him as a person. Never bragged about his abilities, and to watch the passion that he put into his live performances was unreal.

From what I can tell, from his overall enthusiasm for music, I think he'd like a song dedicated to him, if it meant adding another song to the world, but I really can't be sure, as I didn't really know him.

Yeah, it seems like a good idea. It would be basically the opposite of disrespectful.

If you don't want to make it to obvious, thats your choice, but you could include something in the notes of your EP or something.

It is nice to dedicate something to someone who you looked up to and I don't think anyone would say otherwise. You should also mention him at your next gig in the area, dedicate a song to him, or just say a few words about what he meant to you.